Going to everything that happens in New Orleans is a full-time job: Mid-City and More

You know you work, play or live in New Orleans when Monday morning elevator conversations begin with “What’d you do this weekend?” and end with “Going to everything that happens here is a fulltime job.” Amen. Whip out your electronic calendars and take notes, folks. Because my column now runs twice a month, I have a lot of ground to cover and will give chronological order a tryout.

Xavier in the news

Xavier University’s class of 2013 celebrates the traditional baccalaureate Mass and honors convocation May 10, at 6 p.m., in the new Convocation Center on Washington Avenue. On May 11 at 10 a.m., Xavier alumna U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin will deliver the commencement address to 550 graduates and their guests.

Smith was chosen as a national finalist in “Breaking News Reporting” (university, 5,000 or less enrollment) for the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards, and she took first place in that category in SPJ Region 12 competition. Her on-deadline story, “Administration stuns Xavier community with layoffs, mandatory closure announcements,” was the headline for the Nov. 20, 2012, Herald. It also earned her third place for “Best News Story” in the 2012 Louisiana Press Association’s Better Student Newspaper competition and a nomination for the Robert Novak Collegiate Journalism Award. Smith is also a crackerjack designer with several LPA and Southeast Journalism Conference graphics design awards to her name. Her peers presented her with Xavier University’s student chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists Gregory Lee Excellence in Journalism award. A 1996 Xavier graduate and former Herald editor, Lee is NABJ’s national president and a career sports journalist.

Jeremy Pierre received the Ted Holtzclaw Excellence in Journalism award for the NABJ multimedia short course and was named NABJ Region 5 Student Journalist of the Year.

Take a hike

The Friends of Lafitte Corridor’s annual hike is May 11 at 10 a.m. at Louis Armstrong Park and ends at City Park. This free event gives walkers/bikers the chance to trek along what will become a trans-neighborhood green space with play spaces, businesses, and walking/biking paths.

In conjunction with “Hike the Lafitte Corridor,” NOLA’s Bike Easy will give bike safety and maintenance lessons just before the hike begins. The bike workshop is set for 9-10 a.m. at Congo Square in Armstrong Park.

For information send an email to info@folc-nola.org or visit www.folc-nola.org or www.bikeeasy.org.

Neighborhood meetings

The DeSaix Area Neighborhood Association’s monthly meeting is May 11 at 10 a.m. at Langston Hughes Academy, 3519 Trafalgar St.

On May 13, the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization meets at 6:30 p.m. at Warren Easton High School, 3019 Canal St. For more information, email info@mcno.org.

The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association also meets May 13, 7-8:30 p.m., in the Holy Rosary cafeteria, 3368 Esplanade Ave. The group can be reached at info@fsjna.org.

Bayou Boogaloo

One of New Orleans’ biggest neighborhood festivals, the eighth annual Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo, is May 17-18 on the banks of Bayou St. John at Orleans Avenue. This rain-or-shine environmentally friendly music/food/arts/bikes/rubber ducks bash is sponsored by The Mothership Foundation, which Mid-City resident Jared Zeller founded post-Katrina to help this heart-of-the-city neighborhood recover.

In addition to a long list of musicians and artisans, the Boogaloo also includes several unique events: the BB bicycle pub crawl, May 18, 8 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.; the 5th annual Zulu “Run to Ride” 5K, May 18, early morning; Bike Easy’s 11-mile bicycle second line, May 19, starts at 11 a.m. at festival headquarters on Bayou St. John; the Second Harvest rubber duck derby fundraiser, where folks can adopt a duck for $5 (more, too) and cheer their friend in a 10,000, yellow rubber duck flotilla “race” for prizes, May 19, late-afternoon.

The meeting is open to anyone with a business in the Mid-City, upper Treme, and Faubourg St. John neighborhoods. For more information, see the group’s listing at www.mcno.org.

Landmarks Society

The annual meeting and awards dinner for the Board of Trustees of the Louisiana Landmarks Society for is Monday, May 20, at 5:30 p.m. at the Pitot House, 1440 Moss St. The Harnett T. Kane Preservation Award will be presented to Dr. Patricia O’Brien and the Louisiana Landmarks Society’s service award will be presented to Keith Hardie.

For more information call 504.482.0312 or email info@louisianalandmarks.org

Melinda Shelton writes about Mid-City, Faubourg St. John and the Fair Grounds and DeSaix neighborhoods. She can be reached at melindalshelton@gmail.com.